As the second COVID-19 wave hit the country, several entrance exams including medical entrance exams were postponed this year.
In 2020 also the exam schedule was disrupted by COVID-19 and followed lockdown.
In May 2021, Secretary of Higher Education Amit Khare had urged all centrally funded institutions to postpone all offline examinations scheduled in the month of May 2021 considering the second wave of Covid-19. The Online examinations, etc may however continue, it had added.
The letter also had stated that the decision would be reviewed in the first week of June 2021.
INI CET 2021 was originally scheduled for May 8 but was later postponed along with the NEET PG 2021, due to the pandemic. However, on May 27, the new dates were announced. The exam is now slated to be conducted on June 16, 2021.
Meanwhile, 23 MBBS doctors had filed a petition in Supreme Court seeking postponement of the Institutes of National Importance Combined Entrance Test (INI CET 2021) which is conducted by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences.
Today the apex court heard the petition. It has directed the AIIMS to postpone the exam at least by a month, reported Live Law.
The petitioners had stated that the decision is in contrast to the statement made by the PMO earlier, which said that all PG exams will be conducted only after August 2021 that students would be notified about them at least a month prior.
The INI CET exam was scheduled for June 16, despite medical graduates being asked by the government to offer their services for at least 100 days during the second wave of the pandemic.
Student organisations like NSUI and ABVP have also demanded that the postgraduate entrance examination conducted by AIIMS be postponed in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The INI CET facilitates admission to postgraduate courses in leading government medical institutes in the country including AIIMS, Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER) Puducherry, and National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro-Sciences (NIMHANS) in Bengaluru.
(With inputs from agencies)
